From bump to baby and beyond

Main menu

Tag Archives: photo journal

Our bunk-doodling, splendiferous, wondercrump, whoopsey-splunkers, phiz-whizzing, whipple-scrumptious ickle grunion is seven-months old now and is going through a bit of a transformation. In the last week he’s started rolling from his tummy to his back and is starting to experiment with moving his body. There is much back arching, half rolling, leg lifting and arm waving in evidence as he starts to figure out what these limbs of his can do. He’s starting to grasp nicely, is enjoying tummy time a bit more and has even achieving a bit of lateral movement through wriggling. We watch the process with relief and delight.

Our Aidy-bug is clocking in at seven kilograms. He outgrew the Moses basket about three weeks ago and is now sleeping in the big cot. There are still no teeth, which brings us to three solid months of unnecessary teething gel use! He’s enjoying solid food, but we’ve been introducing these very gradually as his digestive system has been struggling a bit. He gets really cross if the next spoonful takes to long to appear, or horror of horrors, his portion is finished! The reflux is still bothering him a bit but I’ve stopped the medication he was on for it, and it’s manageable without it so we’re grateful for that. He’s also really bonded with Colin in the last few months and lights up whenever he sees him.

On Saturday night he had his first sleep over at Colin’s mom while we were at a wedding. Col and I enjoyed our 20 child-free hours immensely, the seven hours of uninterrupted sleep being my favorite bit! Laura, Menno and Leigh-Anne in turn survived their 20 hours of babysitting, even if everyone concerned was exhausted by the end of it.

Last Friday we hit the four-month mark with Aiden. He’s picking up weight well but is a small little fellow, clocking in at the lower end of the growth chart. Perhaps the Goodwin genes are stronger in this one; perhaps he’s just a late bloomer. Time will tell.

At 11 weeks old (14 December to be precise) he started smiling, and this time round I was the lucky recipient of his first grin. He’s gurgling delightfully and his level of interaction grows each day. He’s generally a very easy baby and, as non-first children must, has learnt to be fairly adaptable. He loves being in both the sling and wrap, neither of which I got right with Cam.

The only thing blighting our existence right now is Aidy’s reflux. Just when I think it’s getting better it seems to get worse again. He’s also struggling with wind and those pesky ones that I don’t manage to get out during the day, build up and come back to haunt us at 3am. It’s for this reason that I chose ‘ickle grunion’ (little someone who moans) as the Roald Dahl phrase for this month’s photo – the soundtrack to our wee hours is the poor mite complaining about wind-related discomfort.

We are nearly at the three-month mark in terms of his corrected age, and I mention this with a mixture of trepidation and hope. Hope, because at three months some things usually get easier – winding, longer stretches between feeds, more interaction to fill one’s heart. But trepidation too because at four months Cameron started cutting his first tooth and The Dark Days (which lasted for the next five months) began.

In some ways the last four months have flown by, in others I feel like my entire life has become a never ending loop of feeding, burping, rocking … Do it all again. But from our previous flip on this ride I know how many changes come about in the months ahead – solid food, more sleep, mobility! So at the risk of having to eat my words, I’m going to say that it feels like we are through the hardest bit. The very fact I have written this post after months of silence seems proof of that. We live in hope!

On Wednesday Cameron turned 18 months old. He’s got a delightful disposition and makes friends with just about anyone he meets. He loves dancing, birds and cars. He preferred mode of motion is a flat out run, laughing madly as he goes. He is only four teeth short of a full set, eats most things and is saying a few words.

Yesterday Cameron turned nine months old. He’s doing really well, not quite crawling yet, but getting about by creeping like a caterpillar. He has five teeth, with a sixth about to break through any day now. As you’ll see, having a mobile baby has suddenly made this photo journal concept a lot more tricky! I’ve included three photos of him at nine months to give you an idea of how much he’s grown.